Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd. provided an update on the Gubong Gold Mine ("Gubong") and Kochang Gold and Silver Mine ("Kochang") in South Korea. As shareholders will be aware, the issuance of the Mountain Temporary Use Permits ("MTUPs"), small parcels of land needed to allow commencement of surface work at the two historic mines to stockpile ore, store equipment and machinery and for general logistic, are the last part of the legal requirements needed to commence bringing the historic high grade Gubong and Kochang mines back into production. The grant of these has taken far longer than anticipated, particularly in light of the fact that both projects have already received extraction licences.

However, the Board, in tandem with its lawyers and planning consultants, remain positive that these will be granted, and the Company will be able to bring both Gubong and Kochang back into production. The potential value of the two projects is clear, as highlighted in the Scoping Study. This was conducted on a USD 1,750 per oz gold price, and reported a post-tax NPV of USD 181 million, free cash of USD 50 million per annum, an IRR of 111% and a USD 630 per oz All in Sustaining Cost.

The Board remains totally committed to achieving the grant of the respective licences. Kochang: The issuance of the MTUP at Kochang has been referred to the Board of Audit and Inspection, Korea ('BAI Korea'). The BAI, which is a constitutional agency established under the President, but retains an independent status in terms of its duties and functions, inspects the work performed by local government to ensure that they followed the correct processes and law.

Their adjudication is mandated to take 60 days but this is not guaranteed. Since the Kochang licence has already been awarded an extraction licence by the Ministry of Mines, has the support from the local landowners and community and the submission covered all the legal requirements, the Company remains in a strong position. The Company's lawyers and permitting consultants have again emphasized that all legal and regulatory requirements had been covered in Bluebird's initial c.800-page submission and that the additional actions requested re community engagement have been successfully completed, and the requested measures to reduce the risk of environmental impact of the development of Kochang, submitted.

The Company believes that the issue of the MTUP has become regionally political and therefore welcomes the audit procedure. Gubong: On receiving the further questions from the local government at Kochang, the Board decided that the best course of action re the advancement of Gubong, was to pause the submission and identify a local partner to jointly develop the larger of its two projects. This has been successful in regard to the Company's high grade Batangas gold project in the Philippines, where its local joint venture partner has been instrumental in securing the recently announcedCertificate of Approval from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) for its Two-Year Community Development Plan.

The Company announced that it is in advanced negotiations with a local Korean entity to form a Joint Venture to advance Gubong. As part of the JV, where each party will be net contributors to the project, Bluebird's team will supply technical know-how and the Korean partner, permitting and in-country expertise. Gubong was historically the second largest gold mine in South Korea estimated 2.34M tonnes at some 7.3g/t Au garnered from 57 drill holes over 17,715.3 metres.

The Board believe it has a geological potential of 1 million + oz Au in-situ, plus an estimated additional 300,000 oz Au from satellite ore bodies. The initial production opportunity is the 25 levels already developed with all the remnants and unmined areas left by the original miners. The 25 levels extend over 120km in total length which indicates the size of the opportunity.